Opera Turns 15

It's hard to believe, but Norwegian browser Opera is celebrating its 15th birthday today. Jon von Tetzchner--Opera's current CEO--and Geir Ivarsøy first developed the browser in lab back in late April 1994.

It's hard to believe, but Norwegian browser Opera is celebrating its 15th birthday today. Jon von Tetzchner--Opera's current CEO--and Geir Ivarsøy first developed the browser in lab back in late April 1994.

"Geir and I knew the Web would forever change how people live, work and play--the Web browser would be the tool to enable that transformation," said von Tetzchner in a statement issued today. "Today, I am humbled by what our company, together with the worldwide community of Opera users, has achieved. In the next 15 years, billions of people will join the Web. I am confident we will give them even more reasons to choose Opera. Everyone deserves a good browser, regardless of how or where they connect to the Web."

According to the company, some 40 million people across the world use the browser on their PCs. The company is celebrating the birthday on its site with the "top 15 reasons to use Opera."

Brian Heater has worked at a number of tech pubs, including Engadget, Laptop, and PCMag (where he served as Senior Editor). Most recently, he was as the Managing Editor of TechTimes.com. His writing has appeared in Spin, Wired, Playboy, Entertainment Weekly, The Onion, Boing Boing, Publishers Weekly, The Daily Beast and various other publications. He hosts the weekly Boing Boing interview podcast RiYL, has appeared as a regular NPR contributor and shares his Queens apartment with a rabbit named Lucy.
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